KNIFE-carrying thugs under 18 would avoid jail under plans unveiled last night.
The Sentencing Guidelines Council recommended only referral orders. The move would fly in the face of Gordon Brown's claim that anyone caught with a blade would face automatic jail.
The SGC panel said locking up young offenders should be a "mesasure of last resort". In the uk this year, 34 teenagers have died from stab wounds. The PM promised a zero-tolerance policy on knife crime in an exclusive Sun interview in the spring.
The Sun, friday, December 19, 2008.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle2054424.ece